We check in with people at each stage of the cash transfer process to see how things are going. Take a look at some of their stories as they appear here in real-time.
Learn more about how recipients opt in to share their stories.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My expectation in the near future is to pay all the school fee arrears for my school-going children. Their education comes first among all my responsibilities. I also plan to increase the income-generating activities that will enable me to build a permanent house. I will start by renovating the house I am living in currently then buy a good television set. These will ensure that I have a good rest in a good home after a long day's work.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I was able to pay my children's school fees using this transfer. Before, I used to wholly depend on my carpentry business which was not doing so well because I didn't have a proper workshop to store my raw materials. Therefore I could only buy a few timbers per day depending on the number of orders from my clients. I couldn't grow and establish my business because of the small profit I got could be spent on our daily expenditure. Since the money was not enough to cater to all my needs, school fees for my children continued to pile up and sometimes my children would be sent home. This affected the day to day learning. I am glad because I finally managed to offset the school fees arrears.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal as of now is to build a new kitchen. Currently, I use a grass-thatched mud-walled hut as my kitchen. It is also the room where my kids sleep. This is why I am working hard to ensure I build an iron-roofed house that will enable me to harvest rainwater.
16th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change in the next six months in that I will have started a poultry project. This project will enable me to earn a daily income by selling eggs to meet other additional needs for the family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer is that I pay school fees on time. We started merry go round group immediately after the first transfer. I have four children in secondary school and paying school is not an easy task. When it was my turn to receive the money I used all the savings to pay school fees and this has enabled my children not to be sent home. Their performance has greatly improved because they spend most of their time studying unlike before when they could stay home for long because I did not have the money to pay immediately. I used to do casual jobs and the amount of money I could get was not enough to meet both basic needs and school fees at the same time. Currently, I have peace of mind to engage in other activities because I know that my children are in school. I'm so happy for the support. It has enabled me to also have time to work on my farm and reduce the number of casual jobs that I could do before.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I do not have a new goal now, I still want to continue saving in the merry go round group that we have started to enable me to pay school fees for my children on time.
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life is currently different from how it was four months ago in that I have time to work on my own farm. I do not use all my time doing casual jobs like I used to do before. My children also are no longer sent home to collect school fees because I do pay their fees on time and this has led to an improvement in their performance.
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to have changed in the next six months because I will have completed building my house. This will reduce the amount of work doe buy my wife to maintain the house. It will also be a good environment as it is cleaner and free of dust. This will make my children happy to have a nice home and they will be so proud of me.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily is having paid school fees for my children in secondary schools. The joy of seeing my children go to school every day without disturbance is the most amazing thing in my daily life this year. As a result, I keep saving money in the merry go round group that I took the money from in lump sum and went to pay the school fees. This has made my life better as I know keep paying my contributions as my children learning continues.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
In the next four months, I will keep saving in the merry go round group in order to use it in school fee payment for the third term of this year.
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Having paid school fees using the money I recived form GiveDirectly, I got the freedom to engage in other projects. I am currently building a house for my family from the money I get as wages fro my daily job. The house is almost complete as I only still need to do the doors. I am so happy to be completing its construction so that we can have a good home. It is made of timber and iron roofing sheets which is decent and will last longer.
5th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 6 years ago
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How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect to have bought a cow to be a source of milk and built a house because the current one is old and mud-walled roof.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that these transfers have enabled me to invest in merry go round contribution from which I will get school fees.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
As soon as I receive my merry go round contribution I intend to built a house and a dairy cow.
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life is currently different because I have hope of getting money every month of which I could not get before.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 6 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
My new goal is to start a business to help me raise money for school fees for my children. I intend to start buying and selling of maize as I can readily get the market within my village as we mostly experience food shortage.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Currently we have form a group in my village where we contribute part of GD payment to one member to fund his or her project,pay school fees or build a house. We are now united unlike before when we had no time to sit and discuss on the development of our village.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect in the next six months I would like to have cleared school fees for my children and that they will not be sent home again for fees.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is to see my wife earning and see her planning for the cash. Am now happy about her as she has given me confident in her that she can manage cash appropriately. This was evidence when she receive the transfers from Give Directly.
Enrolled
access_time over 6 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My biggest hardship is when I once bought eight hectors of land in Mau forest. I spent a lot of money buying the land but was not able to get my land. This is because some land was allocated to the forest. Narok county also was allocated the land and eventually, I lost the land and could not recover my money.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening because I have worked hard during the day constructing houses. It is also at this time when I have received payment for the work I have done.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I have three children who are studying in school. When I receive my transfers, I will prioritize the money on paying school fees for my children.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
My greatest achievement is that my children have studied. Even though I am struggling to pay their fees, I am a proud man because my son has enrolled for a masters program.